Methods Introduction

The purpose of writing a methods section of any scientific paper is to describe to the reader the goals, and questions of the research and inform the reader of what was done in order to try and answer the questions or hypotheses. The description of the experiment and the analysis along with is should be able to be replicated by the reader. The methods of this research paper will be looking at the interspecific relationship of Canada Geese and Mallard Ducks around the UMass campus pond. Geese and ducks are commonly found in the same environments as each other which leads to their interspecific relationship. Both species feed on similar resources (grass) and inhabit the same areas. They can often be seen congregating together on and around the pond. This allows for easy access to capture their everyday interactions. This factors into my decision in choosing this interaction. It will be easily obtainable for someone to go and replicate the methods used and will have no trouble finding this interaction. The only major factors that could prohibit the replication of the methods are weather and time of day. The species typically are not out on the campus pond at night time and while it is precipitating.